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Friday, August 22, 2014

Thoughts on Michael Brown

Last week, Michael Brown was shot and killed by a cop and left dead in the street And in response frustrated Black people in Ferguson Missouri took to the streets.

However, the Police response to the riots and protesting was downright disturbing. Police in Ferguson Missouri looked like they were ready for war. Officers responded with military style body armor, tear gas and rubber bullets. They drove MRAPS and carried submachine guns and established a no-fly zone over the city

I thought this was America, not Palestine. But here it was broadcast on TV An American police department using the tactics and weapons Israelis use to counter terrorists like HAMAS in Palestine.

These were angry frustrated brothers and sistas, tired of racial profiling, being denied jobs, and being harassed by police for being Black. It looked like Brown’ death was the straw that broke the camel’s back for most Black folks in that neighborhood. Brothers and sisters who had heard about Trayvon Martin, Renisha McBride and Eric Garner here in New York City. Brothers and sisters who were seeing the same pattern of police brutality perpetrated in their own neighborhood by them by law enforcement.

But the police acted like they were Israeli soldiers fighting HAMAS. I didn’t know Black people protesting injustice were terrorists.

America the Democracy showing its true colors as a Hypocritic Republic. From the deaths of Michael Brown, Renisha McBride Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, it’s clear that there are clearly still two worlds in AmeriKKKa, One Black and One White.

In spite of everyone’s efforts nothing has changed since 1964.

Jim Crow has returned to AmeriKKKA. Right under the auspices of our first Black President.

What we saw on the screens of our televisions in Ferguson with that military style response was the equivalent of watching dogs and fire hoses used on our grandparents and great-grandparents who marched in the Civil Rights Movement.

I thought our first Black president was supposed to bring change to AmeriKKKa. But here we are with a situation that parallels the early days of the Civil Rights movement. It’s a powerful statement about how much things have deteriorated under his ineffective leadership.

Ferguson is to Obama what Katrina was to George W. Bush. A defining statement about how incompetent he is as a leader.

Barack Obama’s response to the violence in Ferguson is to deflect and delegate, not take responsibility for what’s transpiring on his watch. First with a terse, vague statement about the situation. Then when the violence escalated, he sent Eric Holder to Ferguson. He didn’t take action of a LEADER.

Ferguson needs a visit from the President. Why? To show people the President is in charge. To show the country he is a leader.To Unite the people.  To reassure the public that he is aware of the situation and is going to take control of it.

Barack Obama Like George W. Bush he’s lost touch with the people who he serves. His vacation seems more of a priority than a chaotic situation transpiring right in front of the eyes of Americans both Black and White.

The Michael Brown situation shows how bad things have deteriorated in Black communities over the last 20 years. Even with a Black president, there is no Black leadership in Black communities across the country. Black folks are clearly still looking for Barack Obama to be a Great Savior like Dr. Martin Luther King.

Instead of getting up off their asses and doing for themselves.

The definition of Insanity is doing the exact same thing and expecting a different result. And what I’m seeing transpiring in Missouri clearly shows me the vicious cycle regarding race and race relations in AmeriKKKA.

Unfortunately, the response from our old Civil rights leaders is to keep marching and protesting in the quest for justice. Doing the exact same thing and expecting a different result.

The rest of the world calls this insanity, but Black people call this Civil Rights.

Shawn says Black people, it’s time for a new approach.

We took a step forward with the election of our first Black President. But over the past seven years, the country has taken twenty steps back to Jim Crow under his incompetent leadership. When local law enforcement uses a military response to escalate violence against protesters in a country where Freedom of Assembly is guaranteed under the Constitution, things are falling apart in America.

No other minority community has to deal with brutal police officers. Do we hear of police officers beating up Hispanics? No. Do we hear of police officers shooting Asians in the Street in Chinatowns and Koreatowns? No. Why?

Hispanics control a lot of manufacturing and importing of fruit and food products to America. One story of a White Cop killing and beating a Hispanic and they shut down and slow down the import of fruit and food products to White America.

Asians control most of the Manufacturing of imported goods from hair weaves to iPhones. If White cops beat up on a Chinese American or a Korean American the way they did Eric Garner, the Chinese government would shut or slow down the production of goods imported to America.

Even at the height of 9/11 and the Iraq war, Arabs in America weren’t brutalized the way Blacks continue to be. Not a single police officer put them in choke holds as they sold loose cigarettes in their stores like they do right now. Why?

Because the response from Arab countries would be SWIFT. Don’t think OPEC countries like Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries such as Quatar and Yemen would quickly impose an oil embargo on the U.S. again if White cops started applying a military response like the one in Missouri to Arab business owners in America.

Each of these responses would cripple the American economy. So big business lets police departments all over the country know not to FUCK with certain communities. Because the flow of dollars that pays their salaries will be CUT OFF LIKE THAT.

The economic pressure these countries would use would force a change in political policy in America. Black people have that kind of power, but are too divided to use it.

It’s time for Black people to realize we are behind enemy lines. And it’s time we started pooling our resources. Using the $3.3 trillion dollars in spending power we use to buy Air Jordans, 40 ounces, Playstation and XBOX games to build the economic base needed to create the political power needed to build a strong Black community.

The only way to stop brutal police from racially profiling and killing Black people is Group Economics. When Black dollars are spent with Black-owned businesses such as mine, they can be pooled together to get the political power to create laws that protect Black communities.

Every other community pays itself FIRST. By shopping with their own businesses and buying their own supplies to make their products from their own people. Keeping the flow of money in their community. Building wealth and political power.

Every other community uses group economics to apply political pressure on local politicians. People all over the world don’t value Black people because Black people don’t value themselves. The Black dollar is seen all over the world as “liquid money”, the easiest to make in the world.

I say it’s time for us to cut the faucet off.

If Black people can’t be safe from racial profiling and police brutality then it’s not safe for us to go shopping at stores during busy holiday seasons such as Back-to-school, Black Friday, and Christmas. Maybe if nonblack businesses from corner owned stores to big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Target see how many Black dollars they lose in retail, travel and tourism during a season, maybe they’ll start learning to value Black people.

And maybe once they LOSE enough money during a season, Black people will actually start to see a change in the policies regarding how communities of color are policed. Nonblack Businesses need to see the value of the Black dollar. They need to see the impact Black customers have when they’re kept from shopping in their stores due to the racist and brutal policies of law enforcement.

But most Black people lack the backbone, tenacity, discipline and commitment to make that kind of statement. The character and resolve of Black people is so WEAK these days they couldn’t participate in that type of protest.

Hell, most Black people don’t the backbone and discipline to shop at their own stores. If we shopped at our own businesses a lot of these problems would be solved. If we patrolled our own communities like Jews, a lot of the crime would be solved. But we’d rather march and protest, praying to White Jesus to change everything for us.

Black folks I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again the time for protesting and marching are OVER. It’s time for a new approach to Civil Rights. One where we apply economic power and economic pressure to get political change.

2 comments:

  1. Two things:

    1) It's not so much the economics as much at it is the spirit of unity that is necessary for swift action.

    2) Tariq Nasheed in Hidden Colors 2 said it best: "Black people don't need leaders. Black people just need to get on the same page."

    3) What was the REAL cause of the final straw leading to the fall of the Roman Empire? Answer: depopulating most of the people in their empire and moving groups of warriors in to occupy the land. (That's why urban areas are beginning to be militarized).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Two things:

    1) It's not so much the economics as much at it is the spirit of unity that is necessary for swift action.

    2) Tariq Nasheed in Hidden Colors 2 said it best: "Black people don't need leaders. Black people just need to get on the same page."

    3) What was the REAL cause of the final straw leading to the fall of the Roman Empire? Answer: depopulating most of the people in their empire and moving groups of warriors in to occupy the land. (That's why urban areas are beginning to be militarized).

    ReplyDelete